Land of the Blindfolded
by Killing Kathy
Summary: AU. Year 2200. As a result of the atomic war, all that's left of society are three different outlying cities, all ranked in influence and power. The Clover Project was an experiment, resulting in 3 'clovers'. They are ranked by strength order, from first to third. Rivaille is a three-leafed clover, content to follow the ideals of the government, until a strange boy appears.


Land of the Blindfolded

Summary: AU. It is the year 2200, and the world has become reduced to chaos and mayhem. As a result of the atomic war, all that's left of society is different outlying cities, all ranked in power and strength. The Clover Project was a experiment, resulting in 3 genetically altered humans. They are ranked by strength order, from one to three. Rivaille is a three-leafed clover, an ace among diamonds. He's always believed in what society taught him-until he meets a boy that changes his outlook-and with it, his destiny. RivailleXEren Inspired by the manga Clover, by CLAMP

Chapter 1

Rivaille kicked a loose pebble from the cobblestoned street, mind wandering off as usual. The sun was shining brightly-an unusual occurrence, (they were in the middle of winter, after all-) and the temperature was warming up, which worsened his mood.

He hated spring. It was too damn warm, too damn-happy, he guessed.

He was a 'cold person', after all.

He scowled, and the bystanders on the sidewalks hurriedly moved out of the way. Rivaille was used to the petty gossip and rumors by now-

"Isn't that the three-leafed clover?"

"I've heard that he's worth a whole army!"

"He looks dangerous. Stay away from him!"

"Wow! He's short!"

It was the last comment that had bugged him the most, he'd admitted, mainly because it was true. Hadn't he'd been teased for that fact ever since he was small? But that made no sense, Rivaille thought-We were all short back then. But school had closed down now, hadn't it? He mused, squinting up at the next deserted building that he'd passed.

"Fucking useless. I never learned anything." Rivaille muttered curses under his breath as his jacket got snagged on a rusting steel gate, jerking the fabric roughly; not caring if he ripped it.

He could always get another one, free of charge-after all.

His mother had sold him to the Clover Project, desperate for money. His father had died in the war a long time ago, and she was on her own, a single mother with a child to support. She had become a prostitute, whoring out her body for money. But one thing that he appreciated, Rivaille thought,

Was that she made her biggest effort to make sure that he saw none of it.

Back when he was little, he'd thought that walking into brightly flashing rooms,

Full of loud noises and the sick smell of alcohol-that was all normal.

Seeing grinding bodies on the bar floor, gasping and moaning, wasn't that what all humans did?

_No time for remising now, _Rivaille lazily scolded himself, remembering that he had to buy some bread from the market.

He headed towards that direction, feet clipping on the stoned runway.

No, he didn't blame his mother for selling him, Rivaille thought, anyone would've probably done the same in her situation. Hell, he wasn't even sure if she loved him, maybe at least a little-he wasn't abandoned, was he?

But she'd died of the virus that had swept the city two years ago-the exact time when he was in the grand capital, dedicating his body to the Clover Project.

There were two other kids there, he remembered, all around his age.

A girl with dark hair, and a lanky blond brat-no, not brat. They were all the same age-

Actually, hadn't the man been a bit older?

Hm. Maybe.

Rivaille yawned as he saw the line in front of the bread stall, he slowly walked towards the back, delaying as long as possible. He hated to wait and knew that he would be in a crappy mood by the time he'd gotten his bread.

"Look! There's Rivaille!"

A gaggle of kids ran up to him, smiling. He gazed down at them emotionlessly; Rivaille didn't particularly like kids. This was just a fancy way of saying that they were annoying.

"Hn." He shifted his weight from one leg to the other, checking his pockets for loose change. He fished out a few gold pieces, deciding that that should be enough. But now everyone in line was taking notice, murmuring amongst themselves. "Hey, isn't that-"

"Sir!" He glanced towards the source of the voice. The bread vender was waving to him frantically. "Come to the front of the line please, sir!"

Rivaille raised an eyebrow, but nevertheless walked there, jiggling his coins in his palm. The bread vender was a homely man, with a potbelly and a light beard and mustache. Behind him huddled a boy; cowering behind him. The man chuckled as he noticed Rivaille staring. "Don't mind my grandson, he's new here-aren't you, Armin?"

The boy cowered into himself, yelping as Rivaille's gaze fixed on him. "..How old is he?" Rivaille asked, taking an interest despite himself.

"He's fifteen." Rivaille raised an eyebrow in surprise; surely fifteen year olds were much more mature then that, weren't they?

The man smiled sadly at his look of surprise. "Ah..Armin has..er..undergone a _diffcult _childhood, strictly speaking-he's traumatized sometimes. He just gets these mood swings, you know?"

Rivaille hummed under his breath as he nodded. He pointed at a round loaf of French bread. "I'll have that, please." He rummaged in his pocket for a silver piece; he had to pay a tip, didn't he?

"Oh, no, you don't have to pay!" The man quickly wrapped up his bread in a loose paper bag, smiling. "You've brought great protection to us-it's the least we can do to thank you!"

Rivaille stared at the warm bundle for awhile, mind straying towards accepting. He blinked, then brusquely shook his head, spilling a few coins on the scratched counter. "I'm paying."

"But sir-"

"No protests." Rivaille cut off tiredly; hadn't this gone on long enough? "Think of it as a gift."

As he slipped a hand inside his carrier bag to put the loaf of bread in, a green book fell out,

landing haphazardly on the sidewalk, white pages fluttering.

"What's that?" He looked up as he was about to pick up the book. The kid-Armin was his name?-was pointing to it, eyes brimming with curiosity. For the first time, Rivaille noticed that his eyes were blue. "Oh, it's a old book of mine." He brushed the dirt off the cover, watching the kid out of the corner of his eye. He was gazing at it in something that seemed like awe and reverence, staring at the book. Rivaille couldn't help but chuckle. He held out the book to Armin. "Do you want it?"

Armin took an ever further step back, his eyes wide. "M-Me?"

Rivaille rolled his eyes. "yes, you, brat. Do you want the book or not?"

"..Y-Yes! Very much!" Armin quickly ran forward, snatching the book as if Rivaille might pull back his offer at any moment. Rivaille smiled fondly and ruffled the boys hair. "That's an atlas, actually. Landmarks and oceans are in there. Do you know what those are?"

Armin shook his head, still gazing at the book.

"Sir, we can't thank you enough-" The bread vendor started to say.

Rivaille waved him off. "What this city needs are more minds like his. Keep reading, kid. You'll become great one day." And with a last pat to the kid's blond hair, Rivaille left; the only thing on his mind was dinner.

As Rivaille was walking, leaves kept on whistling into his ears and face. He impatiently slapped them off, cursing winter. Weren't all the leaves supposed to be gone, anyway?!

He had returned to his hometown to see his mother, he remised, and when he'd heard that she passed away-he had turned to the government for financial aid and protection. They had told him to move into the city of _Sina,_ a sprawling outlet on the westernmost end of the three cities.

Maria, Rose, and Sina. Sina was undoubtfuly the best protected and most powerful, but mostly, it was only the rich who lived there; they were the only ones who could afford it.

Rose was for all the 'middle-class' people, as most of the society would call it,

And that was where the two leafed clover, Mikasa Ackerman, lived. She was ranked one under him, but still powerful all the same.

Maria was the one city that was distanced from the other two, hiding on its own all the way in the furthermost east. It was a city for the poor and inconvienced. _Rivaille had used to live there. _

Now, it was the home of the one leafed clover, Irvin Smith.

He was the weakest out of the clover project, but still exceptionally skilled all the same. He had actually been Rivaille's pseudo friend, before they were separated into different cities.

Rivaille cursed as a boy bumped into him, knocking him out of his fantasies. "Watch it, dumbass!"

"Sorry!" A hurried apology answered him as the boy ran away. Rivaille stared after him in disbelief. "What the hell?" He'd never been rudely pushed off like that-and besides-

why the fuck did his bag feel so light?

…Oh no.

The brat didn't..

"I DON'T KNOW WHO YOU ARE, BUT MOTHERFUCKER, THERE IS HELL TO PAY!" Rivaille ran quickly after the ragged boy, surprised when he avoided his grasp easily, almost dancing. The other boy looked panicked, hurridly sprinting away. Rivaille growled and turned sharply, running through a dark alleyway and meeting the boy on the other side. The boy yelled in surprise as Rivaille suddenly appeared in front of him; he frantically searched for an escape. Rivaille quickly caught him by the neck and slammed him against a building wall, breathing heavily. "..You..stole my bread. Mine."

"So?!" The boy cried defintally, struggling. Rivaille ignored the fact that the boy was taller then him and therefore must look awkward to a passerby.

"Do you fucking know who I am?!" Rivaille yelled, shoving his face closer, glaring at the other.

"..No?" The boy smiled weakly, holding up his hands in defiance.

"Who cares." Rivailel groaned. "Where's the bread?"

The boy smirked, eyes wide. "In my rear pocket." He obvisouly thought that the other wouldn't reach there. Well, he didn't know Rivaille. Rivaille snapped a curse and felt the other's pockets, ignoring the flush that rose on the boy's cheeks. He felt his pants for the bread, allowing him a tiny moment of triumph when he found it. "..You know that you just groped me, right?" The other boy said, raising an eyebrow.

"So what?" Rivaille snapped harshly. "you know that you broke a law by stealing my bread, right?"

"I was desperate!" The other bowed his head. "I-I'm all alone.."

"Oh, bullshit." Rivaille rolled his eyes. "only the rich live here. What the hell are you?"

"I used to live in Rose!" the boy smiled, displaying a sharp set of teeth. (Rivaille inwardly shivered) "I had a friend there!"

"Oh, did you?"

"Yep! Her name was-" Rivaille cut him off harshly. "Okay, I really don't have time to know about your love-life." He wrinkled up his nose as he glanced as his bread and walked off, tossing the food by the boy's feet. "Mister! Aren't you going to take your bread?"

"Forget it!" Rivaille called. "It's probably been infested with your AIDS, anyway!"

The boy paused for a moment in surprise. Slowly a grin spread on his face. "Thank you, mister!"

Rivaille nodded slightly, still not facing the boy. "And by the way!" The boy was still talking to him. "My name is Eren Jaegar!"

"Yeah, Yeah…" Rivaille muttered, strolling on ahead. He heard a scampering of feet, and when he looked back, the boy was gone. He couldn't help but feel a tiny bit of disappointment, but shook his head wearily. "I must be going mad.."

* * *

So..this was just a little idea that I had...I typed it out in one sitting, so it's kinda short..yeah.^^ Sorry about that! But this fic will be updated slower then Something InfallibleLike Eternity (my other Ereri (rivaere) story)) So..maybe around 2-3 weekish? Depends on how engrossed I get in this idea. XD I tried my first snk AU! Hopefully I don't screw it up...

so..the other chapters will be a looott longer..so..yeah! :D I hope you all will be patient with me! Thank you!

Until next time! Ja ne~!

K.K

Reviews will make Rivaille dance Gangnam Style!


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